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WILHELM REICH
The Bioelectrical Investigation of SEXUALITY and ANXIETY TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY MARION FABER, WITH DEREK AND INGE JORDAN Edited by Mary Higgins and Chester M. Raphael, M.D.
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Copyright © 1982 by Mary Boyd Higgins as Trustee of the Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust Fund All rights reserved Published simultaneously in Canada by McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., Toronto Printed in the United States of America First printing, 1982 Designed by Irving Perkins Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Reich, \\1 ilhelm. The bioelectrical investigation of sexuality and anxiety. Contents: The orgasm as an electrophysiological discharge­ Sexuality and anxiety-
The bioelectrical function of sexuality and anxiety. 1. Sex (Psychology) 2. Anxiety. 3. Electrophysiology. I. Higgins, Mary. II. Raphael, Chester M. III. Title. 1.55.3 81-3209
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"'WR
Love, work and knowledge are the wellsprings
of our life. They should also govern it.
WILHELM REICH
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Contents Foreword
xi 1. The Orgasm as an Electrophysiological Discharge 3 Some peculiar features of sexuality 4 The orgasm formula: mechanical tension ~ bioelectrical charge ~ bioelectrical discharge ~ mechanical relaxation 9 2. Sexuality and Anxiety
21 Starting point and fundamental ideas 21 Sexual excitation and anxiety affect 25 Tendency to assume spherical form 40 The primary vegetative form of the antithesis between sexuality and anxiety 41 Kraus's "fluid theory of life" 48 Potassium and calcium ions and the vegetative function 56 The antithesis of center and periphery 62 3. The Bioelectrical Function of Sexuality and Anxiety
71 Basic summary of the clinical approach 71 Observations on the oscillograph 77 Anxiety and unpleasure 94 More evidence of the basic antithesis of vegetative life 100 Prerequisites for the pleasure reaction 105 Electrical excitation in kissing 107 Results of the control experiments 113 The "vegetative center" 119 Some theoretical conclusions 126 Electrophotographic Data
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My experimental studies during the years 1934 to 1938
gradually and logically centered on a single basic prob­
lem: how deeply is the function of the orgasm rooted in
biology?
This book is composed of three studies from that period.
They follow one another in a logical sequence which re­
flects the various stages of progress made in the develop­
ment of or gone biophysics, a process which began in 1934
when I achieved a breakthrough into the biological foun­
dation of psychoneuroses. The present volume can with
good reason be understood as a logical continuation of my
Character Analysis. It is the character analysis of the areas
of biological functioning, so to speak. The discovery of bio­
logical energy, the orgone, was made solely as a result of
the consistent and logical nature of the sex-economic the­
ory of the biopsychic apparatus. At certain places in these
studies, which were completed before 1939--Le., before
the discovery of the orgone-the reader will find statements
and assumptions which were later fully confirmed by the
previously unknown orgonotic pulsation function. The rele­
vant places are marked by footnotes [1945].
The logiC of the development of sex-economy into orgone
biophysics is objective proof of its unbiased nature. If some­
one traversing unknown territory concludes from seemingly
unimportant signs that a huge lake is nearby, and then,
following these signs, actually comes to a great lake, that
(l
o Cf. "Psychic Contact and Vegetative Current" [Chapter XIII in Char­
acter Analysis].
xi
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xii
Foreword
is proof enough that he has observed and interpreted the
signs correctly.
Orgone biophysics is firmly based on the foundation of
direct observation, experimental testing of these observa­
tions, logical development of experiments, and interpreta­
tions that keep pace with the work process. It fills many
gaps in natural science; for the first time, objective natural
processes are concretely linked with subjective emotional
life.
W.R.
1945
r
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Bioelectrical Investigation
of
SEXUALITY and
ANXIETY Full text available from the Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust
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The Orgasm as an Electrophysiological Discharge* Although in his compilation Die Lebensnerven (3rd ed.,
Springer, 1930) Muller makes general mention of the rela­
tionship between orgasm and the contraction of the smooth
muscles, the physiology of orgastic excitation has remained
unexplained. To my knowledge', there have been no experi­
ments on animals or humans. Various disorders are de­
scribed in the sexological literature, but they are not
considered in the context of how they relate to unconscious
psychic life, or to the physiology of the sexual function, or
to the social conditions of people's sex lives.
An orgasm is more complete and provides greater re­
lease the more the sexual excitation has been concentrated
in the genitals and the more completely this excitation then
ebbs away within the vegetative nervous system. The na­
ture of this excitation is crucially important to the under­
standing of sexuality in general.
In the clinical treatment of neuroses and sexual disorders,
orgasm is found to be a process of excitation which is
characterized by the complete reduction of all psychic ac­
tivity to vegetative tension and relaxation. We came to
understand "orgastic potency" as the ability to allow, free
of all inhibitions, a relaxation of the corresponding tension
It First published in German, in unrevised form, in Reich's Journal for
Political Psychology and Sex-Economy, Copenhagen, 1934.
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WILHELM REICH
that has accumulated in the biophysical apparatus, and to
experience it fully.
The following questions must be answered:
Is sexual tension nothing more than a mechanical phe­
nomenon?
Is sexual stasis, then, an essentially mechanical process?
Is the relaxation that occurs with orgasm a mechanical
relief, resulting from the emptying of engorged seminal
vesicles or sperm ducts, as many opinions would have it,
or does it involve merely a mechanical change in the sur­
face tension of the sex organs?
These and similar questions demand an answer, for neu­
roses cannot be properly treated or prevented in the con­
text of social sex-economy until these problems have been
adequately settled. If the theory of sex-economy is correct
in contending that orgastic potency is the key to under­
standing the economy and dynamics of emotional life in
general and of psychic disorders in particular, then one must
understand the orgasm problem in order to understand
neuroses, and vice versa.
SOME PECULIAR FEATURES OF SEXUALITY
The assumption that sexual tension and relaxation are
purely mechanical processes leaves unexplained many facts,
which fit easily and without contradiction into an overall
understanding if one assumes that, besides mechanical re­
laxation, a bioelectrical discharge occurs during orgasm,
something which ought to be verifiable by experiment.
To start with, it might seem as if mechanical relaxation
is restricted to men only and is not a valid explanation in
the case of women. It is this mechanical view of events
which led to the idea, predominant in sexology, that it is
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The Orgasm as an Electrophysiological Discharge
5
"natural" for women not to experience orgasm. The socio­
logical origin of this idea has been reported in detail else­
where. °
Orgastic phenomena in the healthy woman, which fully
resemble those of the man, thus require explanation.
Women are able to experience the same kind of rhythmic­
clonic convulsions of the involuntary muscles; they experi­
ence peripheral concentration of excitation before climax
and centripetal draining and ebbing away of excitation
after climax, exactly the way men do.
In coitus interruptus a complete mechanical discharge
takes place and often excitation at climax is even more in­
tense than usual; nevertheless, there is an abiding sensation
of not being satisfied or of having experienced inadequate
relaxation, if any at all.
In coitus condomatus, too, a mechanical discharge takes
place, while gratification is greatly diminished. This can­
not be explained by the reduction in tactile sensations, for
pure touch sensation is present; but the sensation of pleas­
ure is lacking or reduced, and it is precisely this that needs
to be explained. Unambiguous signs of stasis such as irrita­
bility, anxiety, lack of interest in work, which tend in time
to accompany coitus condomatus, point to the lack of ade­
quate relaxation.
Clinical investigations show that, depending on the type
of female secretion, two fundamentally different tactile
sensations of excitation occur during the sexual act,
whether it is performed with the same partner or with dif­
ferent partners. Patients describe one kind of sensation as
"watery" or "squishy," the other as "oily" or «thick and
abundant." The first imparts less intense and qualitatively
C.f. Reich, Die Sexualitiit im Kulturkampf, 2nd ed., Sexpol-Verlag, 1936. [The Sexual Revolution (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974) I)
-Ed.]
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different sensations, compared to the second. The differ­
ences probably arise from, on the one hand, more serous
or, on the other, more colloidal secretion in the female
genital glands.
Probably the most striking fact is the relationship be­
tween genital friction and the contraction of the genital
muscles. Their tone is greatly increased during erection. In
addition, any friction produces an involuntary contraction,
unless one voluntarily tenses against it. With increasing
friction, the involuntary muscle contractions increase in
intensity. As the climax approaches, the contractions become
clonic; i.e., several spontaneous muscle contractions follow
each other in quick succession, and they cannot voluntarily
be inhibited, even when the friction has stopped. While up
to the point where clonus occurs, friction causes the mus­
cles to contract, from that moment on, the clonus of the
genital muscles seems to determine the contraction of the
voluntarily innervated muscle systems of the abdominal
wall, legs, face, and arms. This is the central aspect of the
"spread of excitation throughout the body."
We must explain why orgastically impotent compulsive
characters experience no gratification despite mechanical
release; and why friction exerted on the spermatic duct
and pelvic floor does not trigger any muscular contractions
in patients suffering from the inability to ejaculate.
The fact that sexual compatibility exists between certain
men and certain women is a very remarkable phenomenon
which until now has remained completely unexplained and
has merely been glorified in mystical terms. It is a mutual
attraction and, as it later turns out, a compatibility in sex­
ual rhythm, which often operates at first Sight without
either of the individuals being aware of it. If one disregards
genital compatibility (which cannot be the reason for the
phenomenon), psychic characteristics, appearance, etc.,
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The Orgasm as an Electrophysiological Discharge
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one arrives at the conclusion that there is something, which
laymen tend to label "sexual aura" or "sex appeal." These
spontaneous unconscious object choices tend to prove "har­
monious" if no serious complications intervene. The actual
nature of this harmony, however, remains unexplained. 0
The fact that people who lack free-flowing sexuality are
felt to be "unattractive" by persons with strongly erotic
natures is part of the same problem.
When the male member touches the moist mucous mem­
brane of the female vagina, a difficult-to-control urge arises
to make complete contact between the penis and the sur­
face of the vagina. The man feels driven to penetrate com­
pletely and the woman to accept him fully. (In contrast to
this "genital magnet effect," as we might call it, speaking
for the moment simply metaphorically, orgastically impo­
tent men and frigid women exhibit no such urge, or only a
very diminished one, despite vaginal lubrication; or else
such people act with conscious intent, knowing that one
"should" penetrate and accept, respectively.) A further in­
dication of this remarkable phenomenon is that withdrawal
of the member means overcoming a resistance which is a
phYSically unpleasurable stimulus to the point of being
painful. This sensation is particularly pronounced when
withdrawal takes place at climax, the height of excitation.
Then the pleasurable muscular contraction begins to pro­
duce pain. It is the same with patients who voluntarily or
unconSciously tense the muscles of the pelvic floor and geni­
tals too much during intercourse and are then overwhelmed
by excitation. Such people tend to develop a great fear of
the sexual act and the excitation.
If the female genital organ is dry, the sexual act pro­
-0 Since 1939, the existence of "biosexual contact" has been confirmed and
explained by the function of the contact of two fields of orgonotic excita­
tion.
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WILHELM
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duces nothing more than ordinary tactile pleasure, even if
friction leads to mechanical relaxation in the man.
Onanistic gratification is reduced when friction is pro­
duced with a dry hand rather than one moistened with
saliva. A therapist must be aware of this if he wishes to
improve the genitality of impotent men. Likewise, when
using a condom, the sensation is greater if the condom is
moistened inside.
It is not immediately apparent why gentle and slow fric­
tion produces an incomparably stronger sensation than
vigorous and rapid friction. This cannot be explained in
tactile, mechanical terms alone.
Detailed inquiries in sex-counseling centers, which are
borne out by clinical experience, show that there are two
kinds of frictional movements: one is thrusting, strenuous,
and executed with the entire torso; the other is more spon­
taneous, undulating, and limited to the pelvic region. The
first occurs in persons with strong muscular armor, as for
example in emotionally blocked individuals, who have to
actually overcome their vegetative inhibition, etc. The sec­
ond occurs only in muscularly relaxed and also psychically
free-flOWing people. We know that the first form is deter­
mined by the attempt to compensate for a lack of spon­
taneous movement. '''hat determines the second has yet to
be explained.
Let me in conclusion indicate a gap in our understanding
of the complex orgasm phenomenon. Following orgastic
release, the genitals can suddenly no longer be stimulated,
and the mental image of the sexual act cannot be repro­
duced or is completely without affect. The view that the
release is mechanical, based on the vascular congestion of
the genital organs, is inadequate, because the hyperemia
disappears only very gradually. This seems to be a conse­
quence of the sudden drop in excitation, rather than its
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The Orgasm as an Electrophysiological Discharge
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cause. If one wished to explain the phenomenon in terms
of neuronal sensitivity, one would first have to explain why
the end-organs become refractory precisely after discharge.
All the phenomena enumerated here can be understood
by assuming that the orgasm represents a bioelectrical dis­
charge. To my knowledge, this view is new in scientific
research, although here and there it is accepted as a fact
in popular belief. If it is correct, we must first of all demon­
strate and clarify the relationship of mechanical relaxation
to bioelectrical discharge.
THE ORGASM FORMULA:
Mechanical tension ~ bioelectrical charge ~
bioelectrical discharge ~ mechanical relaxation
The orgastic function must be part of the natural order
of things, and in fact an elemental part. The basic function
of all living matter, namely tension and relaxation, charge
and discharge, is represented here in its purest form. It also
combines two fundamental directions of vegetative flow
which we will discuss in detail later. Orgastic discharge
produces a feeling of pleasure and fusion with the object;
its blocking, on the other hand, produces a feeling of anx­
iety and separation from the object. The orgastic function
also represents one of the most important nodal points of
the body-soul problem.
Vegetative excitation of the genitals is the first require­
ment of the orgastic function. The erection is essentially an
intense filling of the genital blood vessels, beginning with
the genital arteries (parasympathetic effect). The genital
muscles, too (M. ischocavernosus and bulbocavernosus), are
parasympathetically excited, resulting in increased tonus.
This causes a compression of the efferent blood vessels
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WILHELM REICH
(venous plexus), located closer to the surface than the ar­
teries. (The antithesis is sympathetic, anxious excitation
which contracts the arteries and renders the genital mus­
cles flaccid, thus impeding the erection.) The more com­
pletely this excitation takes over, the more constricted
the urethra becomes; that is to say, the stronger the tone
of the peripheral genital muscles, the stronger must be the
subsequent contractions of those muscles, which propel the
semen through the barrier of muscles and vessels.
In' women, the erection process is in principle the same
as in men. Here, too, arterial hyperemia and secondary
venous congestion of the corpora cavernosa clitoridis and
of the bulbo vestibuli (the vascular spaces around the
clitoris and around the orifice of the vagina) occur.
Thus, we must distinguish between the following ele­
ments of mechanical tension: in men, the tension in the
seminal vesicles and the spermatic ducts; in both sexes, the
tension due to heightened "turgor" of the genital glands
and tissues; the tension arising from engorgement of the
corpora cavernosa; the tension of the skin and mucous
membranes.
The well-known sensation of tension in the genitals dur­
ing sexual excitation thus has a direct mechanical basis;
i.e., the heightened mechanical tension of the tissues. The
symptomatology of sexual disorders, especially female dis­
orders, has shown that any voluntary tensing of the striated
genital muscles either impedes gratification or makes it
completely impossible. This means that overcoming the
mechanical tension through the process now to be described
is all the more pleasurable, and the excitation is quantita­
tively more intense, the more relaxed the person's state.
The next question is, how does relaxation come about
after parasympathetic excitation has produced mechanical
tension. Let us remind ourselves of the evidence, described
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The Orgasm as an Electrophysiological Discharge
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earlier as problematic, that friction results in involuntary
contractions of the smooth and striated genital muscula­
ture. Any friction-i.e., any change in the surface con­
tact between the vaginal mucosa and the penis-produces
a muscle contraction in healthy individuals. During resting
contact-Le., when there is no motion-no contraction
occurs (except at the end stage), and in fact the tonus may
decrease.
\Ve know that a muscle reacts with a twitch to galvanic
stimuli both when the electric current is applied and when
it is removed ("closing" and "opening" twitch). The striated
muscle contracts qUickly and relaxes just as quickly; the
smooth muscle, on the other hand, contracts in a long­
drawn-out wave. We are thus forced to conclude that mus­
cle contractions due to friction are the same as those that
occur in electrically stimulated muscles. As the frequency
and intensity of friction increase, the waves of contraction
increase; and when the transition is made to the climax,
tetany-i.e., a prolonged spasm at the height of contrac­
tion--occurs, just as it does when a quick succession of
electrical stimuli is applied. This tetany is then released,
with or without further friction, in a muscle clonus; i.e., ~
series of involuntary automatic contractions of all the geni­
tal muscles. It is not the tetanic contraction but this clonus
which constitutes ,orgasm and brings about release of ten­
sion; the contractions recede and give way to a feeling of
complete relaxation followed by sleepiness. It is now clear
what brings about the ejaculation of semen and release of
tension: during orgasm, all the excitation or tension which
has been built up as a result of the preceding stin1l1lation
( friction) is discharged in several spontaneous muscle con­
tractions, which are no longer dependent on stimulation;
energy is dissipated and a state of rest follows.
With the powerful clonic muscle contraction, the semen
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WILHELM REICH
in the male is transported out of the reservoirs, through the
barrier of the tonically contracted penile musculature, and
thus provides a secondary, mechanical discharge. In the
same way that mechanical tension was needed for the elec­
trical charge to build up in the genital organs, so electrical
discharge is now the determining condition for mechanical
relaxation. Since this reciprocal relationship between me­
chanical and electrical processes represents the actual or­
gastic process, we will call it the «tension-charge process" or
the «discharge-relaxation process," which together consti­
tute the orgasm.
The essence of the gratifying relaxation is not the me­
chanical but rather the bioelectrical discharge, as it is mani­
fested in the muscle contractions. Even slight electric
voltages are enough to produce a discharge of semen in the
male. Gratification, however, is not dependent on ejacula­
tion; rather, its intensity is proportional to the preceding
mechanical tension, to the resulting electrical charge, and
to the resistance which must be overcome when the transi­
tion is made to the clonic state. For that reason, ejaculation
during sleep or with partial erection produces little or no
pleasure or relaxation. Relaxation is, therefore, all the more
complete the greater the preceding tension of the erection
has been. And thus, one of the most significant character­
istics of orgastic potency is the rhythm and force of ejacu­
lation, not the ejaculation per se.
~1easuring the amount of charge and discharge in healthy
people during intercourse would be a very important aid
to understanding the pathology of a number of disorders
of the vegetative functions. Unfortunately, there are-at
the present time, at least-great obstacles barring this ap­
proach. Aesthetic considerations would not have to come
into it; often, what is considered aesthetic today may be
t
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The Orgasm as an Electrophysiological Discharge
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regarded as narrow-minded tomorrow. It is not aesthetic
problems but those of a technical nature which stand in
the way of such a study: the subjects' awareness of the
measuring procedure would falsify the results. C'est tout!
Yet, on the basis of the measurements that have been pos­
sible up to now, we can safely say the following:
In the sexual act, two bioelectrically highly charged or­
ganisms come into contact with one another. 0 The higher
psychic functions cease temporarily. Everything is concen­
trated on the discharge of vegetative high tension. Two
bodies experiencing orgastic ecstasy are nothing more than
a quivering mass of plasm. Anyone who considers this asser­
tion an «insult to his sense of delicacy" simply reveals his
own unnaturalness. Whatever force is capable of forging
people and all living nature into one is infinitely broader
in scope and on a higher plane than decadent drawing~
room philosophizing about the unattainable. We are con­
cerned here with very practical questions about life.
The arrangement of membranes, boundary surfaces, and
fluids during sexual intercourse indicates that a complete
electrolytic system has been established. The surface of the
penis must be seen as one electrode and the vaginal mucosa
as the other. The contact between the two is made by the
acidic female secretion acting as an electrolyte. Water,
which does not conduct, is not an electrolyte. Saliva, on
the other hand, does conduct. It is no coincidence that, as
clinical experience has shown, sexual sensation declines
1
\) [1945] This view preceded the later orgone-physical discovery that in­
tercourse involves excitation and contact, the radintion of body cells, and
the fusion of two "orgonotic systems." In the interest of illustrating the
development of orgone biophysics, the following, no longer valid, electro­
phYSiological explanation of the sexual act, as arrived at in 1935, will be
given.
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WILHELM REICH
when the vaginal mucous membrane is moistened with
water; saliva, on the other hand, enhances sensation, al­
though not to the same degree as vaginal secretion, which
is a colloidal-acidic solution. As we know, the intensity of
pleasurable sensation depends on the ratio of the colloidal
to the aqueous portion of the secretion:
a-male circulation
b-male boundary surface (skin of penis)
c-female secretion (conductor-electrolyte)
d-female boundary surface (vaginal mucosa)
e-female circulation
If one regards the sexual act as essentially an electrical
process, the phenomenon of the genital «magnet effect" as
well as the muscle contractions due to friction becomes
understandable. In accordance with the laws of physics,
the difference in potential between two charged surfaces
in contact with each other will equal itself out to a greater
or lesser extent depending on the size of the contact area
(the larger the area, the greater the degree of equaliza­
tion). In consequence, the urge toward complete contact
of the genital surfaces-i.e., toward complete penetration
or complete acceptance of the male member-is explained
by the partial relaxation which facilitates complete contact,
and by the tension of the parts not in contact. Thus, we have
to distinguish between two kinds of pleasure: first, that
arising from partial relaxation during resting contact which
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The Orgasm as an Electrophysiological Discharge
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is a model of end-pleasure, when the entire charge is
dissipated and relaxation is complete; second, the pleas­
ure arising from friction, i.e., pleasure which is caused by
stimulation and the muscular contraction connected with
it. This motor pleasure, too, which is surely a model of any
kind of muscular-motor pleasure, anticipates a process that
occurs completely during orgastic clonus. The first type of
pleasure can be called "relaxation pleasure," and the second
"tension pleasure." The first is an important result of lower­
ing potential and the second of raising it. The process is
clearly manifest in the case of resting contact during coitus,
when tensions are being equalized, and after the orgasm,
when release of tension is complete.
The nature of tension pleasure is less clear. According to
our assumptions, tension should produce unpleasure and
not pleasure, which we generally think of as an expression
of the release of tension. If tension has been built up by
friction, it largely dissipates when the genitalia remain in
full contact for a while without friction. It then rises again
when friction recommences. This tension is experienced as
pleasurable. How can we reconcile the increase in tension
with its accompanying pleasure ("tension pleasure")? No
doubt the potential surfaces are recharged with each fric­
tion; but just as surely, the accompanying contraction of the
muscles dissipates the accumulated energy, and this con­
tracting makes the increased tension pleasurable instead of
unpleasurable. \Ve can mention two facts which support
this assertion. First, without touching on our problem,
F. Kraus concludes from his studies that the nerve ac­
quires tension during excitation, while the contracting
muscle discharges the stored excitation. \Vben friction oc­
curs, the interface and the various parts of the vegetative
system build up energy, while the contracting genital mus­
$
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cles discharge energy. Forepleasure, then, would seem to
consist of a simultaneous charge and partial discharge. I
put forward this hypothesis in 1923 in my work "Zur Trieb­
energetik,"~ simply on the basis of the phenomenology of
the sexual act. Forepleasure can thus be understood as a
functional process which offers an explanation for the pleas­
urable nature of tension. Second, it is striking that eroto­
genic (perverse) masochists experience each intensification
of pleasure brought about through friction as unpleasurable,
which thus forces them to avoid it. One is also struck by
the fact that a basic characteristic of perverse n1asochists
is that they voluntarily tense their genital muscles and
thereby prevent involuntary friction-induced contractions.
This proves that without the frictional contraction the fric­
tion by itself as a pure charging process is unpleasurable
and is therefore avoided (as, for example, incessant tick­
ling) .
End-pleasure, in contrast to forepleasure, is pure pleasure.
It is based solely on muscular discharge, which also reduces
nervous excitation in a manner which is still completely
unexplained. This last assumption has to be made, for after
orgasm the nervous system is incapable of becoming re­
charged. For a while no mental image and no friction is
capable of recharging the vegetative system. The surfaces
of the genitals also fail to respond to stimulation. The pos­
sibility of a new charge must, however, be linked with the
relaxation. The fact that regular, gratifying sexual inter­
course develops greater orgastic potency is evidence of
this, as is also the fact that infrequent gratification causes
potency disorders.
(; "Concerning the Energy of Drives." [Included in Early Writings, Vol­
ume One (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1975}-Ed.l
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Frigid women lack not only involuntary muscular con­
tractions, because they voluntarily tense all their muscles,
but also frictional tension is missing, because of dryness of
the vagina mucosa.
In patients suffering from premature ejaculation, the
genital muscles involuntarily begin to twitch too soon (in­
termittent ejaculation) or to contract tonically (flow of
semen only). In these cases, excitation is probably trans­
mitted too soon from the vegetative nervous system to the
muscles; but the physiology of the process is very unclear.
There are fundamental differences also in the sexual be­
havior of both sexes which are based on the differences in
their orgastic potency. It appears that people who are able
to experience frictionally induced orgastic twitching move­
ments are much more capable of maintaining monogamous
relationships than people who experience only the sensa­
tions stemming from mechanical release. The monogamous
behavior is based neither on the inhibition of polygamous
impulses nor on moral considerations, but on the sex­
economic principle of genuine pleasure which is repeatedly
experienced. The basis for such pleasure is full sexual
harmony with the partner. There is no difference between
men and women in this respect. If, on the other hand, a
suitable partner is lacking, which is usually the case given
the prevailing conditions of sexual life, then the capacity
for monogamy turns into its opposite; namely, an unremit­
ting search for a suitable sex object. This kind of polyga­
mous behavior is in no way to be considered neurotic; but
if the stasis persists, it can lead to neurosis. This behavior
is not based on sexual repression but, on the contrary, on
natural sexual impulses. If the right partner is found, mo­
nogamous behavior reasserts itself automatically and contin­
ues for as long as the sexual compatibility and gratification
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18
WILHELM
REICH
last. Thoughts and desires centered on other partners are
either very weak or else, again for sex-economic reasons,
they are not acted upon. This is the case as long as another
partner is not thought sexually equal or superior to the first,
a fact which is clearly sensed. However, the old relation­
ship breaks down totally when a new one promises greater
pleasure. This fact is hopelessly at odds with the entire sex­
ual organization of modern society, where material condi­
tions and consideration for children run counter to the
sex-economic principle. Under the conditions of the sex­
denying social order, it is precisely the healthiest people
who are subjected in this way to the greatest suffering.
People who are orgastically disturbed, and thus incapa­
ble of electric charge and discharge, behave differently.
Since they experience less pleasure during intercourse, they
are either in a better position to do without a sexual partner
for short or long periods, or else they are less discriminating;
sex does not mean very much to them. If they are polyga­
mous, it is due to a defective sexual structure. They always
exhibit more or less deeply rooted disorders in their work
performance, which is not the case with the former type.
They are better able to adapt to the conditions of marriage.
However, their fidelity is not based on sexual gratification
but on moral inhibitions; i.e., not on sex-economic principles
but on principles of compulsory sexual morality. They are al­
ways subject to neurotic regression to childhood conflicts.
Their polygamy is not very gratifying, and if the condition
continues for a long time, they become increasingly unable
to find a suitable sex partner. They are often better able to
comply with the demands of bourgeois society, but at the
same time they pay for this compliance by developing neu­
rotic disorders which affect all members of the family,
especially the children. This is erroneously viewed as the
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The Orgasm as an Electrophysiological Discharge
19
effect of "heredity." If they undergo vegetotherapy, ~ and it
is successful in establishing orgastic potency, their behavior
is transformed and they begin to develop all the attributes
of the genital character.
Orgasm is an elementary natural phenomenon; it governs
all living creatures who have the capacity for vegetative
expansion and contraction. The tension -? charge -? dis­
charge -? relaxation process which has been revealed and
which governs the orgasm requires extremely precise study.
First, we must discover in which fundamental vegetative
phenomena of life it is rooted. Then we must prove it ex­
perimentally.
Let us now turn to the relationships between sexual ex­
citation and anxiety.
~ Reich applied this term to the therapeutic technique he developed after
his discovery of muscular armor and the orgasm reflex (1935). It indicated
his shift of emphasis from the psychological to the physiological and the
fact that this technique directly influenced the functioning of the vegeta­
tive nervous system.-Ed.
Full text available from the Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust
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